montg

Terry Teachout is working on a Louis Armstrong biography. The claim, that I've heard more than a few times, is that the world still awaits a definitive biography of Pops. teachout interview

My optometrist told me a couple of weeks ago that bifocals are in my near future--maybe nearer than i thought!

I would certainly second that motion. One advantage of a Concord box would be a sonic upgrade as the remasterings date from the early to mid 90s. This series is more poignant now than ever and it deserves top notch treatment.

I agree with everything said about the sony box. Lousy packaging, great music. the sound is good, but not great. I hear some of the shrillness, but it seemed to get better on the 1940 and 41 sides. On the plus side, regarding the sound, the Columbia engineers were doing first class work and even though the recordings are pre WWII, they are big and full with lots of detail. There is a sampler of this box ("Original guitar hero") that you can find for about 5 bucks. Might be best to check it out first.

Some interesting pictures on the lps in this series...this picture on the Louis Cottrell lp depicts the front porch of Mrs. Joe Oliver. Sad

I agree with this sentiment, but realistically, if the artists aren't selling today--when they're still active and out there promoting-- what's the liklihood Mosaic will take a chance that they'll sell 20 yrs. later. Obscure Blue Note artists like Sonny Clark and Tina Brooks at least had the prestige and mystique of the Blue Note label as a selling point. Most artists today won't have that down the road. Howeer, if Mosaic does begin to release sets of work from the 80s and 90s, I wonder where they'd start. Is the material from the major labels of that period (Verve; Columbia; Blue Note) going to hold up?

I'm with you on that one Lon. I'm looking for it to be here on Christmas morning. I haven't heard a lot about this set, but with Buck Clayton, Ruby Braff, Pee Wee, Ben Webster, how can you go wrong..... Reece, Brookmeyer, or Shank Select (fall or winter 06) Andrew Hill select in early spring 06. --of course, this could all change if the Parlan or Roach go on the 'last call' list

It seems we now have 'original Miles' in perpetuity...no need to sign new artists and discover a new Miles when the old one can be recycled over and over and over

The sound quality (based on what I heard from the samples) was kind of off-putting to me, but I haven't heard it on the stereo. Doubt I'll pick this up. Although I actually like WM's enthusiasm and lecturing about jazz (really), the 'trills' & 'warped notes' that seem to be prominent in his playing tend to turn me off. If I want to hear trills and warped notes, I'll check out Red Allen. I don't want to appear negative, so here's something positive..Marciac Suite is a cool album.

He has an earlier release on Mack too, I think it's called Eternal Journey. I've heard some cuts from this new CD on radio and they've always grabbed my attention, though I haven't bought it yet. Thanks for the review. I remember reading somewhere that Jones was supposed to be joining Lincoln Center--don't know it that came to pass or not.

What's frustrating about this news is that there are PLENTY of RVG sessions in the back catalogue that seriously need a sonic upgrade. Fantasy came out of the gate firing in the early days of the CD--we're talking 15-17 years ago-- and a lot of good stuff hasn't been revisited since then.

I just realized that statement was my 500th post. I squandered number 500 on that? Time to go listen to some blues.

I'm listening to this now for the first time, and this is some truly exciting stuff. I agree with your assessment of Richard Davis. More than once, recently, I've heard a bassist doing something interesting ,checked to see who it is, only to find it's none other than. for the blues book

It's times like these that I wish had the gift of wit. But alas...

Back to Miles, it's one thing to check out Kind of Blue because Santana digs it--but the power of his catalog is deep. I don't see why Budo or Bye Bye blackbird would be more appealing to a rock generation than any number of other jazz performances (performances on CDs that are lucky to sell 500 a year today).

I also remember an interview with Dylan from the early 80s where he was asked what he was listening to and he responded with some praise for Billie Holiday. I didn't know who he was talking about (I figured it was some guy--what did I know, I was into greasy kid stuff). Maybe Dylan was on the Columbia PR payroll for awhile.

Speaking of promotion--i remember a Bob Dylan interview I read in the '80s in Spin magzine. Dylan said something to the effect, "if you want to know what cool is, check out Miles Davis. Now that's the definition of 'cool'". An endorsement from Dylan goes pretty far I suppose--it certainly did with me (i was otherwise unfamiliar with Davis at the time).

Miles Davis CDs sell disproportionately well in the jazz world--all eras from Birth of the Cool through BB and beyond. The Sony/BMG/copy-blocking cartel is singularly devoted to getting his stuff out since it's easy to move. But to me, Miles' music is not especially accessible (no more than, say, a good Horace Silver or even Woody Shaw CD). And though Miles may have a hip image, jazz in general (at least from the 50s and early 60s) still maintains a cool image and so I don't see why the image/marketing of Miles would be uniquely advantageous to him. Is it Miles' greatness that the average music listener finds appealing? If so, what aspect of his 'greatness' is so marketable? just wondering.

That's why I just searched for prestige rather than ojc the first time around. In know it's not perfect, just a gauge of what sells particularly well, at the moment. I guess everybody digs Bill Evans (but me). Related point, the Bird/Diz town hall concert is still ranked in the stratosphere on amazon, (#167).

Here's the search results with ojc. the methodology's far from perfect since some Prestiges are not labled (on amazon) as ojc and of couse many ojcs are not prestige. The Lucky Thompson is probably an anomaly since he's been in the news lately. Interesting to see that Bill Evans is still bringing in a bunch of dough for 'the man'. 1. Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane (Audio CD) ~ John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk 2. Saxophone Colossus (Audio CD) ~ Sonny Rollins 3. Moon Beams (Audio CD) ~ Bill Evans 4. Incredible Jazz Guitar (Audio CD) ~ Wes Montgomery 5. Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet (Audio CD) ~ Miles Davis Quintet 6. Lucky Strikes (Audio CD) ~ Lucky Thompson 7. Explorations (Audio CD) ~ Bill Evans 8. Everybody Digs Bill Evans (Audio CD) ~ Bill Evans 9. Lush Life (Audio CD) ~ John Coltrane 10. Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section (Audio CD) ~ Art Pepper

at the risk of overintellectualizing, here's a quote from one of my all time favorite artists: I don't believe she's taking a swipe at the illiterate audience; instead I think the 'effort' required from the audience is found primarily in the heart. One thing jazz does, as Blakey said, is wipe the dust away--there's a spiritual/enlightening element to jazz (to all art)...it's an ongoing effort to meet the art in this place. Unfortunately, crass commercialism characterizes a lof of the 'music' industry and so this aspect of art tends to be obscured.

and using the same mehtodology, these are the top 10 sellers from prestige, on amazon..Miles might be disappointed to know he's still making a lot of money for 'the man'. 1. Cookin' With the Miles Davis Quintet (20 Bit Mastering) [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] (Audio CD) ~ Miles Davis Quintet, Miles Davis 2. Saxophone Colossus (20 Bit Mastering) [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] (Audio CD) ~ Sonny Rollins 3. Workin With the Miles Davis Quintet (20 Bit Mastering) [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] (Audio CD) ~ Miles Davis 4. Miles Davis & the Modern Jazz Giants (20 Bit Mastering) [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] (Audio CD) ~ Miles Davis 5. Walkin' (20 Bit Mastering) [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] (Audio CD) ~ Miles Davis 6. Miles Davis Plays for Lovers (Audio CD) ~ Miles Davis 7. Ipi Ntombi: The African Music Celebration [CAST RECORDING] [iMPORT] (Audio CD) ~ Original Cast Recording 8. Traditional Music of India (Audio CD) ~ Ali Akbar Khan Original Release Date: April 18, 1995 9. Billy Taylor Trio (Audio CD) ~ Billy Taylor 10. The Complete Prestige/Bluesville Recordings [bOX SET] [LIVE] (Audio CD) ~ Lightnin' Hopkins Original Release Date: October 17, 1991

Today, these are the top 10 best sellers from the Verve label on amazon--this is a barometer of the industry, bestsellers etc. and it's pretty sad. 1. Rock Swings (Audio CD) ~ Paul Anka Avg. Customer Rating: (Rate this item) 2. Dreaming Wide Awake (Audio CD) ~ Lizz Wright Avg. Customer Rating: (Rate this item) 3. Brazilian Girls (Audio CD) ~ Brazilian Girls Avg. Customer Rating: (Rate this item) 4. The Girl In The Other Room [ENHANCED] (Audio CD) ~ Diana Krall Avg. Customer Rating: (Rate this item) 5. That's What I Say: John Scofield Plays the Music of Ray Charles (Audio CD) ~ John Scofield Avg. Customer Rating: (Rate this item) 6. Hummin' To Myself (Audio CD) ~ Linda Ronstadt Avg. Customer Rating: (Rate this item) 7. Salt (Audio CD) ~ Lizz Wright Avg. Customer Rating: (Rate this item) Usually ships in 24 hours 8. Verve Remixed, Vol. 3 (Audio CD) ~ Various Artists Avg. Customer Rating: (Rate this item) 9. Verve Remixed, Vol. 2 (Audio CD) ~ Various Artists Avg. Customer Rating: (Rate this item) 10. Twentysomething (Audio CD) ~ Jamie Cullum Avg. Customer Rating:

I miss the 80s.

I've heard a couple of Gershwin tracks on radio recently that really grabbed my attention. Each time it turned out to be a track from this CD. Charlap playing Gershwin does not, on the surface, appear to be a winner for me (you know, hasn't this been done before, Bill) but after hearing some of it, it may be worth picking up.